1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a package made of metal that houses a semiconductor element and a semiconductor device constituted by electrical connecting a plurality of packages.
2. Related Art
In general, in order to connect a multiple of semiconductor devices of the same type in series or parallel, lead wires for interconnecting terminals of the semiconductor devices or a conductor pattern for connection formed on a printed wiring board where the semiconductor devices are to be mounted are used.
A technique of providing a package housing a semiconductor element with a joint section having a plurality of linearly-arranged terminals and linking the terminals together by use of a harness, and the like, has also been proposed (see, for instance, JP-A-2007-109879).
Incidentally, when several semiconductor devices are connected together by use of lead wires, there arises a problem of connection work involving the expense of laborious efforts and an increase in the likelihood of false connection. Further, use of a printed wiring board leads to a reduction in the likelihood of false connection but requires a step of processing a conductor pattern of the printed wiring board, which in turn raises a problem of an increase in the number of steps.
The risk of false connection will be small, so long as the technique described in JP-A-2007-109879 is adopted. However, a joint section having terminals used for connecting harnesses to respective packages must be formed, which raises a problem of a significant increase in the number of steps employed during manufacturing.